This invention relates to a planar or cylindrical net body using helical wire members.
In biological tissues of living bodies such as bone, tendon and blood vessel, collagen filaments having a helical structure with flexibility constitute fibers for crests and troughs are united side by side. The biological tissue dispersedly supports an external force applied thereto on the helical slope of the collagen filaments united side by side, and exhibits high toughness. When some of the collagen filaments are damaged, the biological tissue exchanges the damaged collagen filaments with new ones, according to the metabolism, so as to maintain the tissue.
The inventor of this invention filed Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) Nos. 8-290501, 8-291587 and 9-314709 on the basis of the helical structure of the collagen filaments, in particular. The technologies described in these Laid-Open Patent Publications propose building structures such as a post member, a wall member and a sheet member all of which combine helical wire members, can provide high toughness and can easily be repaired when a part of the structure is damaged. Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication Nos. 8-290501 and 8-291587 describe a helical structure obtained by uniting helical bodies, with their crests and troughs side by side, wherein each helical body is formed by winding, in predetermined lead and predetermined pitch, wire members having a predetermined diameter into a shape such that a diameter of a helix is about twice the wire diameter, the crests and the troughs oppose one another or have substantially a similar shape, and the troughs are positioned outside from the center of the helix, or a helical structure wherein the helical bodies are wound in the same winding direction or are wound alternately. In the helical structure described above, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No, 9-314709 proposes a helical structure by combining, vertically and transversely, helical wire members for a helical structure and forming a planar mesh, wherein the helical wire members can strongly fix or release the uniting state of the helical bodies, can exhibit a predetermined motion in accordance with an environmental change and can keep the size of the mesh constant.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a net body that can be assembled and disassembled easily and quickly at a working site by using the helical wire members having the features described above. It is another object of the present invention to provide a net body having high toughness and excellent impact resistance by using the helical wire members. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a net body having high tenacity and high durability and yet capable of reducing the weight, by using the helical wire members.
The first invention of this invention provides a net body using helical wire members, comprising a large number of transverse helical wire members formed of first helical wire members obtained by helically winding, in predetermined lead and predetermined pitch, wire materials having a predetermined outer diameter in such a fashion that a diameter of a helix is about twice the outer diameter of the wire materials, crests and troughs of the wire materials have substantially a similar shape and each of the troughs is positioned outside the center of the helix, the transverse helical wires being arranged with predetermined gaps; and longitudinal helical wire members formed of second helical wire members having a different winding direction from that of the first helical wire members, and are combined with the transverse helical wire members in such a fashion that respective crests and troughs engage with one another so as to permit deformation of the net body.
The second invention of this invention provides a net body using helical wire members, comprising a large number of transverse helical wire members formed by curving at a predetermined radius of curvature helical wire members produced by helically winding, in predetermined lead and predetermined pitch, helical wire materials having a predetermined outer diameter in such a fashion that a diameter of a helix is about twice the outer diameter of the wire materials, crests and troughs of the wire materials have substantially a similar shape and each of the troughs is positioned outside the center of the helix; and longitudinal helical wire members is formed of helical wire members, and are combined with the transverse helical wire members in such a fashion that respective crests and troughs engage with one another so as to provide net body comprising a curve sheet.